Dredging machine



(No Model.)l 2 Sheets-Sheet V1. T. Z. COLE.

DREDGING MAGHINE;

No. 415.620. Patented NOV. 19, 1889.

WW1/Leone@ 54400/14160@ N. PETERS, Fhuwlllhognyher. Waxhnglan, ILC.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. z. COLE. DREDGING MACHINE.

No. 415,620. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

Suva/V60@ @m1-humaan .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS Z. COLE, OF NET ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO JAMES E.l CAMPBELL AND DANIEL BICCONVILLE.

DREDelNe-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,620, dated November 19, 1889.

Application filed February l5, 1889. Serial No. 300,069, (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS Z. COLE, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain Improvements in Dredging-Machines,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to machines having chains of excavator-buckets; and it consists in a rotary scraper of peculiar construction and arrangement acting in connection with the buckets to insure the discharge of their contents at the proper point and in improved means for rotating said scraper at a variable speed, in order that the blades may properly traverse the curved interior surface of the moving buckets.

As the machine may be in allother respects of ordinary construction, I have limited the drawings to an illustration of the upper end of the conveyer-chain, the scraper, and the parts immediately connected therewith.'

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, .is a vertical sectional elevation of 'the parts above mentioned, looking against the side of the excavator-chain. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of the parts shown in the preceding iigure, a portion of the f rame-work being broken away. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device forim parting the variable speed to the scraper. Fig. 4 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 5 is a face view of a portion of the same on a larger scale, partly in section.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the excavator-chain, provided with the excavatorbuckets A, and arranged to travel at its upper extremity around the angular supporting and driving wheel B, mounted ou a horizoir tal shaft C, as shown, the parts being moved in the direction indicated by dotted lines, so that the rotated buckets ascending at the top of the chain are inverted to discharge their contents as they pass downward around the driving-wheels B. Owing' to the speed at which the buckets are driven and to the adhesive and tenacious character of the material, it frequently happens that they will not discharge their entire contents at the re quired point without assistance. I therefore provide the scraper, consisting of a rotary shaft D, mounted in fixed bearings, parallel with the chain-driving shaft C, and provided with arms d, extendin rigidly therefrom and carrying at their outer ends blades d. I prefer to employ, as shown, two pairs of arms extended in opposite directions from the shaft and each provided with a scraper, although a single pair of arms and scraper may be employed, provided .the intervals between the buckets are sufficiently great.

The scraper-shaft is located considerably below and beyond the end of the excavatorchain, and the arms d are curved, as shown. In Fig. l. they are carried outward from the shaft in a substantially radial position and then curved sharply backward. As the buckets descend to deliver their contents, the action of the scraper is secured by causing it to revolve at such speed that the blades will enter the inverted buckets at the edge a .and sweep over the inner surface until the opposite edge is reached. Owing to the fact that the buckets advance during this action, and that their inner surfaces are of curved form,

the Scrapers should be given a variable speed side, so that it acts above the load to forcibly expel the same in a downward direction.

In Letters Patent No. 166,852, issued to me August 18, 1875, is shown a rotary scraper having substantially straight or radial blades rotating around an axis on a level with the axis of the bucket-driving wheels, the buckets being comparatively shallow, and the scraper acting in one side of the bucket only while the latter is turned on its side. Owing to the curvature of the arms shown in the present case and to the location of their axis, I am enabled to use deep buckets, which is very desirable, and to carry the scraper over the entire interior surface of the bucket-bottom from one edge to the other, so as to completely and positively expel the entire contents.

The scraper constructed as above may be turned by hand or by any suitable gearing which will impart thereto avariable rotation. I recommend, however, the connections represented in the drawings, in which E repre= sents a cross-arm secured to the end of the IOO bucket-driving shaft C, and provided at its two extremities with studs or rollers c e', arranged to traverse grooves 7L 7L', formed in a plate ILixed on the end of a horizontal shaft G, supported in stationary bearings. It will be observed that each of the grooves 7L 7L enters the plate at a point distant from the center, extends thence inward in a partly-curved line to a point near the center, where it turns practically at a right angle and extends outward from the center. On each side of the plate H the two grooves have their outer ends of circular curvature, the curves being 'described from a common center X, and the radius being equal to the radius of a circle described by the studs e e.

The operation is as follows: As the crossarm E revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow, its stud e enters the forward end of the groove h, as shown in Fig. 3, and sweeps therethrough toward the center. During its movement through the circular portion of the groove t-he plate H remains at rest; but as the stud continues inward toward the center it imparts to the plate H a rotary motion and rapidly-increasing speed. Finally the stud reaches the inner angle of the groove, as shown in Fig. l, at which time the plate H is revolving at. its maximum speed. The stud e now continues its course outward through the rear end of the groove in the direction indicated by the arrows, and in so doing rotates the plate H with a const-antly-diminishin'g speed until the stud reaches the curved termination of the groove, when the plate ceases its rotation. In this manner the plate is given practically a half-revolution, so that as the stud e leaves the rear end of the groove 7L the forward end of the groove h is brought in position to receive the stud e', which has lin the meantime been brought to the position occupied by the stud e in Fig. 3.

The stud e now sweeps through the groove h', repeating the operation just described in relation to stud e, and imparting to the 'plate H another half-revolution. It will be observed that each revolution of the cross-arm E producesa revolution of the plate H with two intervals of rest, and that the speed of the plate I-I is increased and then diminished twice during each revolution. It will also be observed that the parts are so proportioned that each of the studs engages the plate H just before the other stud disengages, so that the plate is at all times under the control of the operating-arm.

Under ordinary circumstances the momentum kof the parts will be such as to insure the passage of the studs through the angular portion and out'ofthe rear ends of the grooves. In order, however, to prevent any failure in this regard, I propose to provide each of the grooves with a yielding dog or latch of any appropriate character-such, for instance, as the spring-latches I. (Shown in Figs. 3 and 5.) Each of these consists of an angular spring secured within the groove, so as to spring across the same and form a continuation of the same at its rear angle. As the studs advance toward the center, these latches yield and permit them to pass. The latches then return to their positions behind the stud, and are thus compelled to pass rearward through the grooves.

On the shaft of the plate H is mounted a wheel J, connected by belt K to a wheel L on the scraper-shaft D. Through these connections the scraper receives the appropriate motion from the plate H.

Motion may be imparted to the excavatorchain in any appropriate manner; but in the drawings I have shown its shaft C provided with a gear M, driven by intermediate gear N, O, P, and Q from an engine R.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- R 1. In combination with the chain of dredging-buckets, the rotary scraper comprising a rotary shaft, the rigid arms thereon, and the scraper-blade fixed to the arms, said shaft being located and the arms curved, substantially as described and shown, so that the blade may f traverse the entire bottom of the traveling bucket from the front to the rear edge.

2. In combination with the chain of excavator-buckets and carryin g-wheels over which the buckets turn to an inverted position to discharge their contents, the shaft having the arms extended outward and curved sharply rearward with the scraper-blade fixed thereto, said parts formed and arranged substantially as described and shown, so that the blade sweeps through the interior of the bucket from one edge to the other while the bucket is in an inverted position.

The chain of buckets, its sustainingwheels, and their shaft, in combination with the rotary scraper mounted in xed bearings, and the intermediate conn ecting-gear including the rotary arm, and the eccentricallygrooved plate, whereby the scraper is given a variable speed during its action 011 each bucket.

4. The chain of buckets, its carrying-wheels, and the cross arm thereon, in combination with the grooved rotary plate actuated by the crossar1n,the rotary shaft having the scraper fixed thereto,and driving-connections, as the pulleys and belts, between the grooved plate and scraper.

5. In combination with the excavator-chain and t-he rotary scraper, the intermediate scraper driving plate having the angular grooves and spring-latches, and its `driving arm mounted on a central shaft and provided with studs at the two ends.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand, this 13th day of February, ISSQ, in the presence of two attesting witnesses.

THOMAS Z. COLE. Witnesses:

WM. R. KENNEDY, W. W. MORTIMER.

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